V 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



J. FRED. C. TALBOTT 

(Late a Representative from Maryland) 

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OF THE UNITED STATES 



SIXTY-FIFTH CONGRESS 



Proceedings in the House 
February- 16, 1919 



Proceedings in the Senate 
October 7, 1918 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 



^(j-ZU'i Zc 



WASHINGTON 
1919 




Tl3 



9: •f »• 

OCT 25 1929 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Proceedings in the House 5 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 5,9 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Isaac R. Sherwood, of Ohio 11 

Mr. Champ Clark, of Missouri 16 

Mr. Lemuel P. Padgett, of Tennessee 19 

Mr. Charles P. Coady, of Maryland 24 

Mr. Frederick N. Zihlman, of Maryland 26 

Mr. CarvilleD. Benson, of Maryland 3I 

Mr. J. Charles Linthicum, of Maryland 34 

Mr. J. Thomas Heflin, of Alabama 42 

Mr. Sidney E. Mudd, of Maryland 43 

Funeral sermon by Rev. Arthur B. Kinsolving, D. D., of Bal- 
timore „Q 

Proceedings in the Senate 47 



[3] 




HON. J. FRED C-TALBOTT 



DEATH OF HON. J. FRED. C. TALBOTT 



Proceedings in the House 

Monday, October 7, 1918. 
The House met at 12 o'clock noon. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Coudcn, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Almighty and evei-living God, whose goodness stands 
approved, so move upon the hearts of Thy children that 
the grief and sorrow which they have brought upon them- 
selves may be removed; tliat the peace which all true men 
are praying for and compelled to fight for may come in 
liberty, justice, and righteousness; that the world may be 
free from the sin and iniquity which follow in the wake 
of war. 

We stand before Thee our Father, with bowed heads 
and sorrowing hearts because of the removal of a Member 
of this House, who from his early manhood lived to his 
convictions — a faithful and gallant soldier, fighting for 
what he believed to be right, and when the war was over 
accepted as gallantly its conclusions and gave himself to 
restoring the Government of the United States in his State 
and in the affairs of the Nation. 

Wise in his counsels, clear in his judgments, he won the 
respect and favor of all who knew him. 

Comfort us and his kinsfolk with the everlasting prom- 
ises of the inmiortality of the soul. 

Fare thee well, old friend, until we meet again, where 
wars and sorrows never enter. 

And everlasting praise be Thine, in the name of Him 
who died that we might live. Amen. 

Mr. CoADY. Mr. Speaker, with a heart full of sorrow I 
rise to inform the House of the death of my colleague, 
Mr. Talbott, who died at his home in Lutherville, Balti- 

[5] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 

more County, Md., Saturday afternoon. With the excep- 
tion of the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Cannon] and the 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Sherwood], Mr. Talbott's 
service here antedates that of any other Member of the 
House. He was serving his twelfth term. I think there 
are only three other Members of the House who have 
ever had longer service here. He was one of the three 
former Confederate soldiers on this side of the aisle. Mr. 
Speaker, my colleague, Mr. Talbott, died a martyr to his 
duty here. When the naval appropriation bill was before 
the House for its consideration he sat here day after day, 
although not a well man, giving the members of his com- 
mittee the benefit of his advice, counsel, and good judg- 
ment. I urged him at that time to go away — I saw that 
he was failing rapidly — but he would not do it. He felt 
his duty was here and he stayed here. After the bill came 
back here from the Senate and was sent to conference he 
was appointed one of the conferees. I again urged him to 
go away, because I felt he was failing rapidly. He said 
to me then, " I will not go away; I shall stay here doing 
my duty until I sign that conference report if it is the last 
report I ever sign." It was the last report he signed. 

At some future time, Mr. Speaker, I shall ask the House 
to set aside a day on which his colleagues may address 
the House on his life and character. He was a splendid 
man, bright, genial, with a happy disposition, and the best 
thing I can say of him is that I never heard him speak ill 
of any man, friend or foe. Mr. Speaker, I offer the fol- 
lowing resolutions. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolutions. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, Ttiat tlie House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. J. Fred. C. Talbott, a Representative from the 
State of Maryland. 

Resolved, That a committee of 26 Members of the House, with 
such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to 
attend the funeral. 

[6] 



Proceedings in the House 



Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be authorized 
and directed to take such steps as may be necessary for carrying 
out the provisions of these resolutions, and that the necessary 
expenses in connection therewith lie i^aid out of tlie contingent 
fund of the House. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

The question was taken, and the resohitions were unani- 
mously agreed to. 

The Speaker announced the following committee on the 
part of the House: Mr. Coady, Mr. Linthicum, Mr. Price, 
Mr. Mudd, Mr. Zihlman, Mr. Padgett, Mr. Estopinal, Mr. 
Piiordan, Mr. Hensley, Mr. Connelly of Kansas, Mr. Oliver 
of Alabama, Mr. Vcnable, Mr. Vinson, Mr. Littlepage, 
Mr. Wilson of Texas, Mr. Kettner, Mr. Butler, Mr. Brown- 
ing, Mr. Farr, Mr. Britten, Mr. Kelley of Michigan, Mr. 
Peters, Mr. Hicks, Mr. McArlhur, Mr. Cannon, and Mr. 
Gillett. 

The Speaker. The Clerk will report the additional reso- 
lution. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect this House do now 
adjourn. 

The question was taken, and the motion was agreed to. 

Accordingly (at 12 o'clock and 12 minutes p. m.) the 
House adjourned until to-morrow, Tuesday, October 8, 
1918, at 12 o'clock noon. 

Tuesday, October 8, 1918. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Waldorf, its enroll- 
ing clerk, announced that the Senate had passed the fol- 
lowing resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the 
announcement of the death of Hon. J. Fbed. C. Talbott, late a Rep- 
resentative from the State of Maryland. 



[7] 



Memoriai. Addresses : Representative Talbott 

Resolved, That a committee of 12 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President, to join the committee appointed on the part of the 
House of Representatives, to attend the funeral of the deceased. 

R^'^olved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to tlie House of Representatives. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the Senate do now 
adjourn. 

And that under the second resolution the Vice President 
had appointed as the committee on the part of the Senate 
Mr. Martin of Virginia, Mr. Bankhead, Mr. Williams, Mr. 
Underwood, Mr. Saulsbuiy, Mr. Smith of Maryland, Mr. 
Lodge, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Penrose, Mr. Dillingham, Mr. 
Gerrj% and Mr. France. 

Friday, January 3, 1919. 

Mr. LiNTHictM. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that Sunday, February 9, 1919, be set aside for addresses 
on the life, character, and public services of the Hon. J. 
Frederick C. Tai.bott, late a Representative from the State 
of Maryland. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Marj'land asks unani- 
mous consent that Sunday, February 9, 1919, be set aside 
to memorialize the late Representative Talbott. Is there 
objection? 

There was no objection. 

Friday, January 10, 1919. 

Mr. Mann. Mr. Speaker, Sunday, February 9, 1919, has 
heretofore been set aside for exercises in commemoration 
of the late Representative Talbott, of Maryland. By 
authority of two gentlemen from Maryland — Mr. Linthi- 
cum, who had the day set aside, and Mr. Benson, who is 
the successor of Mr. Talbott — I ask unanimous consent 
that the order setting aside February 9 be changed to 
February 16, on which to hold the exercises upon the life, 
character, and public services of Mr. Talbott. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Illinois asks unani- 
mous consent that the memorial services for the late 

[8] 



Proceedings in the House 



Representative Talbott be changed from the 9th of Febru- 
arj^ to the 16th of February. Is there objection? 
There was no objection. 

Sunday, February 16, 1919. 

The House met at 12 o'clock noon and was called to 
order by the Speaker pro tempore [Mr. Butler]. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., oflfered the 
following prayer: 

Eternal God, our Heavenly Father! 

That God, whicli ever lives and loves. 

One God, one law, one element, 

And one far-ofT divine event, 
To which the whole creation moves. 

We tliank Thee that the door of the holy of holies is 
ever open to Thy children, where they can commune with 
Thee, find inspiration to guide them in the duties of life, 
consolation for their sorrows, solace for the loss of loved 
ones, and everlasting hope. 

We meet here to-day in memory of four great men who 
wrought on the floor of this House for their constituents, 
their respective States, and the Nation they loved. 

May those who knew them best speak from their hearts, 
that their records may be left in the archives of the Nation 
they loved; that others may read and be inspired with 
patriotism and devotion. 

Comfort those who knew and loved them with the 
eternal hope that sometime, somewhere, they shall meet 
them in a land where partings shall be no more and love 
shall find its own; and everlasting praise be Thine, through 
Him who demonstrated that life is stronger than death. 
Amen. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will read the next 
order. 



[9] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 

The Clerk read as follows : 

On motion of Mr. Mann, by unanimous consent, 
Ordered, That the order heretofore agreed to, fixing Sunday, 
February 9, 1919, as a day for addresses upon the life, character, 
and public services of Hon. Joshua F. C. Talbott, late a Repre- 
sentative from the State of Maryland, be set aside, and that 
Sunday, February 16, 1919, be designated for such addresses. 

Mr. COADY. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolu- 
tions. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will report the 
resolutions. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the business of the House be now suspended, that 
opportunity may be given for tributes to the memory of Hon. 
Joshua F. C. Talbott, late a Member of this House from the State 
of Maryland. 

Resolved, That as a particular mark of respect to the memory 
of the deceased, and in recognition of his distinguished public 
career, the House, at the conclusion of the exercises of this day, 
shall stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the 
family of the deceased. 

The question was taken, and the resolutions were unani- 
mously agreed to. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from Mary- 
land [Mr. Linthicum] will take the chair. 

Mr. Linthicum took the chair. 



[10] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Sherwood, of Ohio 

Mr. Speaker: I presume I knew Comrade Talbott as 
well during my 15 years of service here as any Mem- 
ber outside of his own State. I knew him as a friend and 
gentleman of the highest type. I remember a roll call 
when my so-called dollar-a-day pension bill was pending, 
when he (being a Confederate soldier) voted " aye." That 
vote always appealed to me. Another brave Southern 
soldier, Capt. Lamb, of Richmond, Va., who sei"ved on the 
staff of Gen. Robert E. Lee, also voted " aye." Mr. Talbott, 
if he had lived to the end of his term, would have served 
24 years in this historic Chamber, longer than any Mem- 
ber who ever represented the State of Maryland. I re- 
member in 1911 there were but 391 Members of Congress, 
and of that number only four were Members 20 years 
before, or in 1891. They were Joseph G. Cannon, of 
Illinois; Sereno E. Payne, of New York; Gen. Bingham, 
of Pennsylvania; and John Dalzell, of Pittsburgh. This 
House of Representatives is a political slaughterhouse, it 
seems, for new Members. From 1865 to the commence- 
ment of the Sixty-fifth Congress, a period of 50 years, 5,447 
had served in this uncertain Chamber and of that number 
only 22 had served for 20 years. To-day of our whole 
number of 435 Members we have only present here on this 
floor three Union soldiers — Col. HoUingsworth, of Ohio; 
Mr. Osborne, of California; and myself. And there are 
only two Confederates — Gen. Estopinal, of Louisiana; and 
Col. Stedman, of North Carolina. An old soldier who 
served in that war on an occasion of this kind in talking 

[11] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 

of a depai'ted comrade can not fail to be reminiscent. It 
seems to be natural. 

I remember one battle of the Civil War — the battle of 
Franklin, Tenn. — on the 30th of November, 1864 — when 
there were, all told, about 85,000 men engaged, and there 
were more generals, more major generals, and lieutenant 
generals killed in that battle of five hours than in all the 
great " world's war," where 17,000,000 were engaged. 
That is a startling statement, but I believe it to be true. 
This, because modern warfare is mostly at long range. 
The peculiarities of our Civil War pertain to no other war 
in all history. It was the only war in all history where 
the soldiers on the march and around the bivouac fires at 
night sang patriotic songs of their own composition. That 
was true both of the North and the South, and the litera- 
ture of that war is among the best in the English language. 
In a time like that and amid the intense feeling which pre- 
vailed both North and South patriotic inspiration rose 
above the level plane of prose into the higher altitude of 
inspired song. Hence it is true that with the exception of 
Lincoln's Gettj'sburg oration, that wonderful storj^ by 
Edward Everett Hale — A Man Without a Countrj' — one or 
two orations bj' Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, and one by Henrj' 
Ward Beecher, the literature of the war is its lyric poetry. 
On the Southern side it is equally true, with the exception 
of one or two state papers by Jefferson Davis, some orders 
to his soldiers by Stonewall Jackson, and Gen. Robert E. 
Lee's farewell to his army, the literature of the South was 
its poetry. We had during the Revolutionary War of 
seven years not a single patriotic song \\Titten during that 
whole period and none by soldiers. The same in the 
Mexican War and the same in the War of 1812; but in our 
Civil War there were over 50 patriotic soldier songs writ- 
ten in the North and nearly as many in the South. Among 
the most notable of those songs on the part of the North 



[12] 



Address or Mn. Siii:h\vood, of Ohio 



was Julia Ward Howe's great lyric poem, The Battle 
Hymn of the Republic. Sheridan's Ride, by Thomas 
Buchanan Reade, is probably the most powerful dramatic 
poem of the war. 

And the most dramatic lyric of the South was Maryland, 
My Maryland, written by James R. Randall, of Maryland. 
I remember an incident in connection with that song. I 
was made the field officer of the day in East Tennessee 
upon our arrival under Gen. Burnside, and I was selecte.d 
that night, as the field ofBcer of the day, to locate the 
picket line around our army at the bend of the Holstein 
River, 20 miles south of Knoxville. I was just locating 
the left of the line along a road that ran by the river, and 
was about to return to camp, when I heard a fine soprano 
voice singing: 

The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland I 
His touch is at thy temple door, Maryland! 
Avenge the patriotic gore 
That flecked the streets of Baltimore, 
And be the battle queen of yore, 
Oh, Maryland, my Maryland. 

I had not heard the voice of a woman in song for over a 
year. I looked down in the thicket, and there I saw 
through my field glass a girl at a piano singing, and an 
officer standing behind her, and I saw, by the turn of his 
collar, that he was a Confederate officer. Just then one 
of my pickets fired a shot; then I heard the clang of sabers 
and the clanking of hoofs, and a band of Confederate 
scouts rode out into the darkness. I never knew who 
wrote that song until at Salisbuiy, N. C, after the war. It 
was printed on a piece of brown paper, and signed by 
James R. Randall, of Maryland. 

Another song that was sung in the South after the war 
was written by Father Ryan, of Mobile, who was chaplain 
of an Alabama regiment, The Conquered Banner. He 

[13] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Talbott 

■wrote that song at Knoxville, Tenii., in a single hour, the 
day after Lee surrendered. All the emotions of his heart, 
all of human sympathy and human sorrow was expressed 
in that wonderful song. Here is a couplet from it that I 
remember: 

Furl that banner, for it's weary; 
Round its staff 'tis drooping dreary. 

Furl it, fold it, it is best. 
For there's not a man to wave it, 
And there's no one left to lave it 
In the blood which heroes gave it. 

Furl it, hide it, let it rest! 

One of the most poetic and beautiful songs of the war 
was written by Marie La Costa, of Virginia, entitled. Some- 
body's Darling. It was sung all over the North during the 
war without its southern origin being known. It seems as 
if it might be called the universal mother cry of all war- 
cursed nations. 

There was another peculiarity of our war. None of the 
antebellum poets, except Whittier, wrote a patriotic war 
song during the whole war. All the patriotic songs were 
written by men who were obscure before the war. And 
another peculiarity of our war is that not a single patriotic 
song has been written of national import in all the 50 
years since the war. And here at the close of this great 
war, a world war for democracy, with the most alluring 
shibboleth that was ever put before an army, we find not 
a single poem has been written that will live in historj', 
during this whole war. 

As to my departed friend, let me say he did his duty 
well. His record here, for 23 years, shows him standing 
as a Member devoted to the best ideals. He had the cour- 
age of his convictions. He stood true to his convictions 
with absolute fidelity during his whole career. I am proud 
to do honor to his memory. In September, 1867, at Co- 



[14] 



Address of Mr. Sherwood, of Ohio 



lumbus. Miss., a band of splendid Southern women, only 
two years after the war, decorated the graves of Union and 
Confederate soldiers alike. This act, so patriotic, so cour- 
ageous at that time, inspired one of the grandest poems of 
the aftei'-war period, written by a gifted Mississippi poet, 
Francis Miles Finch. 1 recollect a couplet: 

No more shall the war clouds sever, 

Nor the winding rivers be red. 
They banish our anger forever, 

When they laurel the graves of our dead. 
Under the sod and dew 

Waiting the judgment day, 
Under the lilies the Blue, 

Under the roses the Gray. 

In that quiet cemetery at Cockeyville, in that old grave- 
yard at the rear of the church, lie the last remains of our 
departed friend, and his memory will be kept green by 
those who loved him best. With every coming spring 
kind hands will strew flowers over his grave, and above 
the grass under wliich he sleeps the snowy magnolia will 
diffuse a sweeter balm, and the wild passion flower, wind- 
ing its sweet tendrils among the waving grasses, will 
gather tears beneath the stars and shed them in the sun- 
light. 



[15] 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 

Mr. Speaker: Our well-beloved friend, J. Fred. C. Tal- 
BOTT, was a member of what may not be improperly de- 
nominated " The Old Guard " of the House of Representa- 
tives. Since Talbott departed there are only two left — Mr. 
Speaker Cannon and Gen. Sherwood. Long may these 
two remarkably preserved and able veterans remain as 
splendid samples of a generation which has passed away. 
In the last decade Talbott's thoughts were almost entirely 
of men and things of the past. Not only his thoughts but 
his conversation and his anecdotes concerned them. He 
talked most interestingly about the distinguished men 
who were on the boards when he first entered Congress 
away back in 1879 and in the years immediately following. 

According to his way of thinking there were giants in 
those days. Samuel J. Randall, one of his heroes, was 
Speaker. In the Senate were John T. Morgan, of Ala- 
bama; Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas; Henry M. 
Teller, of Colorado; Orville H. Piatt, of Connecticut; 
Thomas F. Bayard and Eli Saulsburj', of Delaware; John 
B. Gordon and Benjamin H. Hill, of Georgia; David Davis 
and John A. Logan, of Illinois; Joseph E. MacDonald and 
Daniel W. Voorhees, of Indiana; William B. Allison and 
Samuel J. Kirkwood, of Iowa; John J. Ingalls, of Kansas; 
James B. Beck, of Kentucky; Hannibal Hamlin and 
James G. Blaine, of Maine; William Pinkney Whyte, of 
Maryland; George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts; Thomas W. 
Ferry and Zachariah Chandler, of Michigan; William 
Windom, of Minnesota; L. Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi; 
Francis M. Cockrell and George G. Vest, of Missouri; John 
P. Jones, of Nevada; Roscoe Conkling, of New York; 
Zebulon B. Vance, of North Carolina; Allen G. Thurman 
and George H. Pendleton, of Ohio; J. Donald Cameron, 
[161 



Address of Mr. Clark, of Missouri 



of Pennsylvania; A. E. Burnside, of Rhode Island; Wade 
Hampton, of South Carolina; Isham G. Harris, of Ten- 
nessee; Richard Coke, of Texas; George F. Edmunds and 
Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont; and Matthew H. Carpenter, 
of Wisconsin — with others hardly less distinguished. 

Some of the more celebrated Members of the House in 
Talbott's first Congress, the Forty-sixth, were James B. 
Belford, of Colorado; Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut; 
Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia; Joseph G. Cannon, 
William M. Springer, Adlai E. Stevenson, and William R. 
Morrison, of Illinois; James B. Weaver, of Iowa; James 

A. McKenzie, J. Proctor Knott, John G. Carlisle, J. C. S. 
Blackburn, of Kentucky; Randall L. Gibson, of Louisiana; 
Thomas B. Reed and William P. Fi-ye, of Maine; George 
D. Robinson, of Massachusetts; Julius Caesar Burrows, of 
Michigan; Hernando D. Money and Charles E. Hooker, of 
Mississippi; Richard Parks Bland, A. H. Buckner, and 
John F. Phillips, of Missouri; Samuel Sullivan Cox, Fer- 
nando Wood, Levi P. Morton, Warner Miller, Frank His- 
cock, and Elbridge G. Lapham, of New York; Benjamin 
Butterworth, John A. McMahon, Joseph Warren Keifer, 
Frank H. Hurd, Thomas Ewing, William McKinley, jr., 
and James A. Garfield, of Ohio; Henry H. Bingham and 
William D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania; Nelson W. Aldrich, of 
Rhode Island; Robert Love Taylor, Leonidas C. Houk, and 
Benton McMillan, of Tennessee; John H. Reagan, David 

B. Culberson, and Roger Q. Mills, of Texas; John Ran- 
dolph Tucker, Joseph E. Johnston, and Eppa Hunton, of 
Virginia; John E. Kenna, of West Virginia; and Edward 
S. Bragg, of Wisconsin. 

No wonder our genial friend Talbott liked to talk of 
these men. They were splendid themes for any conversa- 
tionalist. He was, essentially a hero worshiper, and the 
talents and virtues of his friends lost nothing when he 
discoursed about them. 



[17] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 

He was a very young Confederate soldier and was fond 
of relating his war experiences, some of which were highly 
amusing. 

Had he remained continuously in the House from his 
first entrance to his final exit, his service would have 
been 39 years; but his victories were mingled with de- 
feats, so that he served only 22 years. 

The great problem nearest his heart and to which he 
devoted his energies was a big navj'. He thought about 
it, talked about it, and no doubt he dreamed about it. 
Now that he is gone from among us, it is pleasant to re- 
member that his last appearance in the House, and that, 
too, with the seal of death upon his face, was to get the 
conference report creating a big navy adopted. He had 
ridden his hobby for nearly four decades; his task was 
do,ne. So, happy in the achievement of a great work, he 
fell asleep. Assuredly some battleship should be named 
the J. Fred. C. Talbott. 



[18] 



Address of Mr. Padgett, of Tennessee 

Mr. Speaker: I regret that the poverty of my language 
will deny to me both the opportunity and the privilege of 
adequately expressing the deep sense of appreciation of 
the high character and the warm personal friendship that 
I entertained for Mr. Talbott. For 12 or 14 years, labor- 
ing together on the Naval Committee of the House, we 
were associated very closely and very tenderly, and dur- 
ing all those years there was naught else for him except 
the very highest regard and the tenderest feelings. 

I regarded him as a man of high character, noble im- 
pulses, and lofty aspirations, a man who was intensely 
devoted to the interests and the welfare and the success 
of the American Navy. 

He was proud of the history of the Navj'. He had a 
high esteem for the officers and the men of the Navy, and 
never at any time did there come to him any thought 
except the thought of devoting the best efforts, the best 
aims, and the best purposes of his life to the upbuilding 
and the stabilizing of the American Navy. And I can 
truly say that the Navy, and, beyond the Navy^ the country, 
owes him a deep sense of appreciation for his untiring 
effort and his unceasing labor for placing the Ameiucan 
Navy upon the pedestal of respect and confidence and 
honor which it enjoys to-day in the public esteem, not 
alone of the American people but of all the world. 

He was also deeply' interested in the Naval Academy at 
Annapolis, Md. He believed that the Naval Academy was 
the agency, the instrumentality chosen for the production, 
for the training, for the development, for the broad and 
yet deep and fundamental education of the officers of the 
Navj', who should give the Navy character and who should 
render it efficient and capable at all times of discharging 
the duties and meeting the obligations that rested upon it. 

[19] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 



There is a little coincidence: Mr. Talbott was a Member 
of Congress in the Forty-seventh, the Forty-eighth, and, I 
believe, the Forty-ninth Congress. During that time Gen. 
Washington C. Whitthorne represented in Congress the 
same congressional district that I have the honor to repre- 
sent, living in the same town, and Gen. Whitthorne, dur- 
ing the time that the Democrats had control of the' Con- 
gress, was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs; 
and Mr. Talbott served with him as a member of that 
committee, and he served with me during the years that 
I have been a member of that committee, both as a mem- 
ber and as chairman. Out of this there grew an interest 
and a friendship, a sentiment, if I may so speak, that 
coupled my thoughts back into the history of the Navy 
when it was very small. Back in those years the appro- 
priations for the Navy, all told, were perhaps less than 
$20,000,000. Mr. Talbott lived in his service to see them 
grow in the last year to $1,600,000,000 and more in one 
year. That, of course, was a war period, but he had seen 
the Navj^ become the pride of the American people, and he 
had the satisfaction of knowing that during these years he 
had contributed materially and substantially to its growth 
and development and entitled to a share of the gratitude 
and appreciation of the American people. 

Mr. Talbott was a man of a lovable personality. I 
select my words with care, and I wish to emphasize the 
expression— a man of a lovable character. There are men 
who have their strong intellects, who may have great 
energy, who may have strong points, and yet are repellent 
in their approach. Mr. Talbott possessed a lovable per- 
sonality in a degree that drew to him a large circle of 
friends. It was to me a source of pride and gratification 
that when I attended his funeral and his burial and saw 
the great concourse of people gathered, it was one con- 
stant chorus, one unbroken expression of love and affec- 
tion that his people manifested and expressed for him. 
[20] 



Address of Mr. Padgett, of Tennessee 

Mr. Talbott was possessed not only of a lovable per- 
sonality but he possessed a sweet spirit. Often have I 
heard liim speak tender sentiments to manifest the sweet 
spirit that he jjossessed toward his fellow Members and 
toward his acquaintances. 

Mr. Speaker, it has been said that it is a good thing to 
be a great man. I want to reverse it. It is a great thing 
to be a good man. And Mr. Talbott, with his lovable per- 
sonality, with his sweet spirit, with the other traits of liis 
character that endeared him not alone to his associates 
here, but to all who knew him, was a good man. 

He was a man who had a keen sense of humor. He was 
not what you would call in the ordinary term a humorist; 
he was not what you would designate as a wit; and yet 
he had a keen, delicate sense of humor. He did not 
always look at the somber, serious, disconsolate side of 
life. 

There was in his disposition and in his temperament 
that sense of humor that gave a sparkle to his life, that 
gave a zest and a pleasure to be with him where one could 
see, in his own life and in the association of his fellows, 
that which carried with it that light of humor and friend- 
ship that endears men to each other. 

He was a fine judge of human nature. He had the 
faculty of sizing up men. It seems that some men have 
that faculty by intuition to look into and analyze the char- 
acter and the elements that constitute the composition of 
human nature. He was a fine judge of human nature as 
it manifested itself in everyday life. I have already said 
that he had a strong hold upon his friends. He gripped 
them to him because his friends saw in him and realized 
that he was made up of those noble qualities, those essen- 
tial attributes, that we characterize as the noble attributes 
of a noble man. And that is why it was that he was, all 
through these many years, able to keep himself ingrati- 



[21] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 

ated in the love and the affection of his people, to receive 
their commendation, and to hold himself close to their 
hearts. He exercised, by virtue of his intellectual and his 
noble qualities, a great influence in the communitj' in 
which he lived. 

That was one of the things that I heard expressed so 
often when I attended his funeral and his burial. The 
plain people, not speaking designedly, not testifying in 
flattery, but expressing the feeling that was uppermost 
in their hearts, spoke of the great influence that during 
all these 3'ears he had exercised in the community. And 
likewise he exercised a great and a lasting influence and 
made an impression upon the democracy of his State and 
of his community. 

Greatly beloved, highly honored, and much respected, 
he reached a ripe old age, full of honors and full of love 
and respect. Like the corn, he ripened for the shock. The 
end came. I thought, and I have often thought, of that 
illustration of the apostle: The seed, the flower, and the 
fruit We take in our hand the little seed. We can not 
understand it. It looks simply like an object. We do not 
know the inherent life that is in it. We may subject it to 
the microscope, and still we can not see the life in it. 
You may analyze it, and you can not find the life in it 
through the chemist. But place it in the ground and let 
the sunshine and the moisture come on it, and there comes 
the beautiful growth, full of the flower, radiant and bril- 
liant in beaut}', and then the rich, full, luscious fruit. 
And so it is when we place the bodies of our loved ones 
" earth to earth, ashes to ashes "; not more mysterious, but 
along the same lines, the providence of God can bring out 
the flower and the fruition of an eternal life from the 
crumbling of the clay in the breaking down of the mortal. 

We placed him in the grave in that beautiful country 
churchyard, where loved ones who had gone before were 



[22] 



Address of Mr. Padgett, of Tennessee 

buried. Alongside of liis loved ones we placed him, on 
the western slope of the hill, toward the sunset, and on 
that beautiful afternoon the sun was making it all radiant 
in beauty, and making the western horizon a vast ex- 
panse of golden loveliness. The thought came to me that 
the soughing of the winds amidst the tresses of the trees 
will lie a requiem — a sweet song over the grave of an 
honest man; and the rays of light, breaking through the 
foliage of the forest trees, will shine upon the grave of a 
man whose life was a blessing to his country, and whose 
work was a benediction to his people. We laid him 
away in that thought, looking to the higher, the better, the 
nobler, the grander life that comes to the just and the 
pure. 



[23] 



Address of Mr. Coady, of Maryland 

Ml". Speaker: The first session of the present Congress 
began on Monday, April 2, 1917, in pursuance of the 
proclamation of the President. 

Since that day 13 Members of the House of Represent- 
atives have died, and of all these deaths — an unusually 
large number — none created more real, genuine sorrow 
among our Members than that of my colleague, the Hon. 
Joshua Frederick Cockey Talbott, who represented the 
second Maryland district in this body for over 23 years. 

There are only two Members whose first service here 
antedates Mr. Talbott's. They are the gentleman from 
Illinois, former Speaker Cannon, and the gentleman from 
Ohio, Gen. Sherwood; and only three Members who have 
to their credit more terms than he had. 

Mr. Talbott had been a Confederate soldier, and his 
death leaves on this side of the Capitol only two others 
who followed the Stars and Bars, the gentleman from 
Louisiana, Gen. Estopinal, and the gentleman from North 
Carolina, Maj. Stedman. 

Mr. Talbott was born on July 29, 1843, near Lutherville, 
Md., where he spent the greater part of his life and in 
which town he died. Early in his life he was elected 
State's attorney for his county, and almost continuously 
thereafter he held public office; and all the public places 
he held, except one, he was elected to fill by the votes of 
the people. From the very start of his career he assumed 
a leadership in politics that was never thereafter success- 
fully challenged, and for a half century he was active in 
the councils of his party, and for many years he was Mary- 
land's representative on the Democratic national com- 
mittee, a highly coveted honor. 

[24] 



Addrkss of Mr. Coady, of Maryland 

Mr. Talbott had been a member of the Naval Affairs 
Committee of the House for a long time and ranked next 
to its chairman. He was a big Navy man — the Navy was 
his hobby — and he never wavered in his support of all 
measures for its enlargement. To the work of this com- 
mittee — ^work that he loved — he devoted his time and 
energ)'. Because of his impaired health he was unable 
to participate actively in the debates on the various naval 
appropriation bills, but he was always on the floor when 
such measures were under consideration, conferring with 
his colleagues on the committee, and assisting them with 
his counsel and advice. He was an authority on the Navy 
and a highly respected one; and he was known and loved 
by everyone in the service. This love was shown by the 
presence at his funeral services of three admirals, other 
naval officers, and a large number of sailors and marines. 

In announcing his death to the House I said I had never 
heard him speak ill of anyone, and I want to repeat that 
statement. He was kind, aff"able, and one of the most de- 
lightful companions I ever met. It was a real treat to be 
in his company, and I always enjoyed a chat with him. 
He was bright, always optimistic, and brimful of interest- 
ing reminiscences. He was loved by his friends, and he 
had an influence in this body that was remarkable. 

I consider it a privilege to have served with Mr. Talbott. 
As a Marylander, I am proud of his achievements, and, in 
common with his other friends, I deeply deplore his death. 



[25] 



Address of Mr. Zihlman, of Maryland 

Mr. Speaker: It was given to me to know the Hon. J. 
Fred. C. Talbott intimately only during the late years of 
his life, which will always be a source of regi'et to me. 

Even before I knew him I had learned to respect and 
admire his many sterling qualities and to marvel at the 
place he held in the affections of his people. 

When we consider that he was first elected to public 
office nearly a half century ago, or, to be exact, 48 years 
ago, and that he was the acknowledged leader of his party 
in his county and district at the time of his death, and that 
his people manifested their love and esteem for him at all 
times and places, his hold upon their affections seems to 
me little short of marvelous. 

That section of Maryland where Mr. Talbott was a 
dominant power for so many years is perhaps the richest 
section of Maryland. The county where he lived is the 
largest in population and contains more wealth than any 
other county in the State. 

Many strong men from an intellectual and political 
standpoint came forward in that long period, but none 
ever contended successfully with him for political suprem- 
acy; and most of those who might have made formid- 
able competitors in the field of politics became his friends 
and personal followers when they learned to know the 
man and admire his many sterling qualities of heart and 
mind. " Marse Fred." Talbott, as he was known through- 
out Iiis native State, loved his people and delighted to 
serve them, and they in turn delighted to honor him, and 
manifested their affection at every opportunity. 

One of the last official acts of his long and active career 
was to come liere from his home near Baltimore to try and 
be of service to the son of one of his neighbors, and a vol- 

[26] 



Address of Mr. Zihlman, of Maryland 

ume could be written and not hold one-tenth of the acts of 
kindness and helpfulness performed by this remarkable 
man during his many years in public life. 

He at all times voted his sentiments and convictions, as 
a public statesman of the school of thought to which he 
belonged and was proud to represent; and he told me 
upon one occasion that his people had never criticized a 
single vote of his on any important question during his 
long career in the House of Representatives. 

During the long deadlock over the naval appropriation 
bill last summer he remained here in Washington as one 
of the conferees, taxing his failing strength beyond what 
a man in his condition could expect to endure, because he 
believed with his country at war it was his duty to remain 
and assist in every way in facilitating an early and har- 
monious agreement with the Senate. 

I visited him at his hotel in Atlantic City in August of 
last year, when he was somewhat improved after the 
breakdown which followed his work here on the naval 
bill, and he told me with pardonable pride of his unani- 
mous nomination by his party for reelection, and that it 
was his ambition to serve one more term in the National 
Congress. This ambition was denied him, for he died 
before the election was held. 

As Mr. Coady has said, Mr. Talbott was what is known 
as a " big Navy man." He believed we should have as 
big and as powerful a Navy as the country's interests de- 
manded, and he worked for that principle in season and 
out of season, and few of those who heard him will forget 
the pride in his voice and manner when he took the floor 
the day before the United States declared war upon the 
Imperial Government of Germany and said: 

The Navy is ready 1 We are ready to fight at the drop of a hat, 
and I am going to maintain that position as long as I represent my 
people, and I do not believe my people will change me as long as 
I say that. 

[27] 



Memorial Addresses: Representati\te Talbott 

I desire to read in part his address upon that memorable 
occasion, when the Nation he loved was about to be 
jjlunged into the black and unfathomable abyss of war, 
and the branch of the service he loved and had helped to 
build to its present great strength and power was to be 
tried in the fire of achievement: 

Mr. Talbott. Mr. Chairman, I had not intended to address the 
House on this resolution, because every man, woman, and child 
in tlie congressional district that I represent knows as well as they 
know that they live that I am for my country and for every right 
that belongs to it on the land or on the sea. [Applause.] I 
would not make an address at all, except some gentlemen have 
addressed the House and have indicated that there is a lack of 
preparation for this emergency. That is not correct. This Nation 
to-day is prepared to meet any other naval power on the globe 
except England. Man for man, gun for gun, ship for ship, we can 
lick the world; and it is not good taste and it is not patriotism to 
try to convey to the people of this land that we are not prepared 
when we are. [Applause.] We are a great deal better prepared 
than the world knows of, and it is good policy that the world 
should not know all that we are doing and have been doing in the 
past. This resolution is going to be adopted, and it is a very 
serious and a very critical time in the history of this Nation. 
War is all that Gen. Sherman said it was, and he helped to make 
it so [laughter], and I would tell him so if he were alive. 

I had a little something to do with it, not very much, but in my 
humble way I did, and I do not wish to talk about it. What in the 
world is this Nation to do? What in the world can we do except 
fight, and we know how? We have got to fight. Now, do not be 
uneasy, do not be at all uneasy, about the outcome. It is going to 
cost some money and it is going to cost some lives. Now, this 
war is not half as vital as some people think. It is not half as 
dangerous just now as some people think. We had a hearing in 
the Committee on Naval Affairs where everybody asked questions, 
although I did not ask many. Admiral Benson, I think, was on 
the witness stand. I said to him, "Admiral, if this country was to 
get into trouble and we had to transport an army to the Philip- 
pines or to Hawaii or to some place, and as admiral of the Navy 
you would be called upon to see that they got there safely, what is 
the first thing you would do? " He said, " The first thing I would 

[28] 



Address of Mr. Zihlman, of Maryland 

do would be to clear the ocean of the enemy's fleet." Now, that 
is all in a nutshell. [Laughter and applause.] That is the whole 
case. Now, before the enemy gets here they must clear the ocean 
of our fleet. For God's sake, let us have a fleet and have one that 
they never will clear off the ocean. [Applause.] Now, that is all 
of it. We need not fear invasion. 

We need not fear any power on earth so long as we have a Navy, 
one that can not be cleared off the sea. It is the duty of our people 
to see that we have a Navy like that and to maintain it. You know 
I am the proudest man in this House, and I have the right to be. 
I introduced in the Forty-seventh Congress the original resolution 
giving authority to the Naval Affairs Committee to take up the 
(iuestion of the rehabilitation of the Navy of the United States 
and had it passed, and introduced an amendment that established 
the gun factories. I am a Navy man, and I believe a navy is the 
one safeguard of this Nation [applause], and if you will only have 
a Navy you can lick the world. [Applause.] Now, I am not going 
to talk about the resolution. Everybody knows who knows any- 
thing about me that I am ready to fight at the drop of a hat. 
[Applause.] And I am ready for my country to fight at the drop 
of a hat, and I am going to maintain that position as long as I 
represent my people, and I do not believe my people will ever 
change me as long as I say that. [Applause.] Now, some gentle- 
men may for various reasons vote against this resolution. Some 
people may say " I have got this kind of a constituency or that 
kind of a constituency." They are all mistaken. Any man who 
votes here because he has got a constituency of a certain nation- 
ality and votes to please them makes a mistake. [Applause.] I 
want him to know that the people who he is voting to please came 
here to get rid of that kind of a government. [Applause.] That is 
why they are here. They are not here because they love us so 
much, but they hated where they came from. [Laughter and ap- 
plause.] I want to tell you one thing. Do not you think for a 
moment that by so voting you are going to please them. They will 
not respect you for that vote. [Applause.] And the people that 
agree with the President of the United States and me will not 
respect you. [Applause and laughter.] So you are going to be 
caught, like the nigger's coon trap, agwine and acomin'. 

Mr. Speaker, it is good for an American to have known 
and to have enjoyed the friendship of Fred. Talbott. 
Kindly, fearless; a two-handed fighter, yet filled with 

[29] 



Memorial Addresses: Representatu'e Talbott 

homely philosophy and axioms; rich in the history and 
rue of the past; alert to his duties and to the needs of the 
present; clear-eyed and unafraid as to the future; accom- 
modating and full of good logic and sound and wholesome 
advice; to know him was to love him and to cherish his 
suggestions and respect his full judgment. 

To have lived, to have been honored by a loyal, pa- 
triotic people for so long a period is a great achievement. 
To have held their love to the end of his long life is a 
testimonial to his strong and lovable character, breadth of 
mind, and innate goodness of heart. 

Happy is he who knows that he will go to his last rest- 
ing place when the day comes with as rich a heritage of 
love and esteem as was given to Fred. Talbott by the peo- 
ple who knew and trusted him. 

And when the twilight hour drew near, 

He stood beside the silent sea; 
And in his heart there was no fear 

Of all its dread immensity. 

He waited there in perfect faith. 
And while the fading day grew dim. 
The boatman's hail, the voyage of death. 
Meant only going home to him. 



[30] 



Address of Mr. Benson, of Maryland 

Mr. Speaker: No one appreciates more than I do my 
inability to say anything that would add to the high 
esteem in Nvhicli we all hold the memory of the late Hon. 
J. Fred. C. Talbott. 

My first recollection of Mr. Talbott goes back to the 
days when he was bitterly opposed in the primaries, when 
my father was opposed to him on one occasion. There 
was a paper published in our county — the name of which 
I have forgotten — and it came to our home. I, then a boy 
of 10 or 12 years of age, had been reading this paper, 
and had formed a very unfavorable and unfair opinion of 
him based upon what that paper contained. 

About that time, upon leaving my fatlier's office one 
day, I met Mr. T.\lbott on his way to Calvert Station in 
Baltimore and walked with him about two squares; and 
from that day until his death we were friends. As a boy 
I was impressed by his wonderful kindliness, his keen 
sense of humor, and his friendly treatment of me, the son 
of his principal opponent. 

My relations with Mr. Talbott were very intimate. I 
know that he would have made a brilliant success as a 
lawj^er and that his sound business judgment would have 
brought him success in any field of endeavor that he might 
have chosen. But, as we all know, he chose for his life 
work to represent his people in this body. He lived 
tlirougli two of the most important periods in the histoi'y 
of the American people. He served as a Confederate 
soldier when a youth. At the close of the Civil War he 
returned and took up his work among his own people. 
Big as his heart was, and as much inclined as he was to 
stand by his friends as individuals, I know that the real 
love of Mr. Talbott was for his country and for the great 
party with which he was allied. A goodly share of his 

[31] 



Memorial Addresses: Representativ'e Talbott 

love was for his people at home. Mr. Talbott loved the 
people of Maryland. He loved more people than any man 
I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I sincerely 
believe there were many, many people, great and small, 
who loved him — and they had abundant reason for so 
doing. 

Upon one occasion we were returning from Manchester, 
in Carroll County, Md., in an automobile with former 
Representative Henry, of Texas, and Mr. Talbott said to 
Mr. Henry: " Bob, you live a long way from your constit- 
uents, and it has some advantages; you are not bothered 
by them at all; it is too hard for them to reach you. But, 
while I live within an hour's ride of my constituents, it 
has its advantages; and one big advantage is that rarely a 
day goes over my head that I do not have the opportunity 
of making some poor fellow feel happier." We all know 
that to be true; and when a man is inspired by such feel- 
ings — love of country, love of State, love for his people — 
an intelligent man, a humane man — one can readily 
understand why he possessed such a great influence in 
national affairs. 

The Baltimore Sun in an editorial published a short 
time prior to his death paid Mr. T.\lbott the following 
tribute : 

Mr. Talbott's very serious illness will bring not merely passing 
regret but genuine grief to a larger number of Marylandcrs than 
would a similar illness of almost any other man in the State. The 
second district Congressman has not always been enlightened in 
his politics, but he has always been unexceptionable in his human 
sympathy. To the whole of Baltimore County he has been really 
a friend and neighbor, helpful, thoughtful, kindly. These quali- 
ties in him were inherent; they were not the result of calculating 
political sagacity, and his success in political life was largely due 
to the fact that there was no sham or pretense about him. His 
fine humanity won for him the absolute devotion of his constitu- 
ents and his followers; it won for him the affection and respect 
of his fellow Congressmen. Their unfeigned sorrow at this time 
is a splendid tribute to him. 

[32]- 



Address of Mr. Benson, of Maryland 



Mr. Talbott had the confidence, esteem, and friendship 
of Pi-esident Wilson. During his last illness the President 
wrote Mr. Talbott as follows: 

My Dear Mr. Talbott : I need not tell you how distressed I have 
been, along with all your friends, at your illness, but I send you 
this note of genuine sympathy with the hope that it may cheer 
you a little to linow how anxiously and affectionately your friends 
are awaiting for your recovery. 

Cordially and sincerely, yours, 

WooDROW Wilson. 

No reference to Mr. Talbott would be complete that did 
not call attention to his foresight as to the needs of the 
Nation when, more than 20 years ago, he began the ad- 
vocacy of and constantly fought for a large and effective 
Navy. He told me last spring, when he was quite ill, 
that no matter what anyone said to him he was going to 
sign the conference report on the naval appropriation bill 
if it killed him. He did sign it, and 1 believe the work he 
did in that committee for his country and for the Navy 
and for us all, at a time when his health was seriously 
impaired, unquestionably helped shorten his days. I be- 
lieve that he felt his work was largely done, and could he 
have lived to see the present war successfully concluded 
he would have considered his work finished. 

Mr. Talbott held the affection and esteem of his con- 
stituents through all the years of his public life; he won 
and retained their loyalty and confidence to the end. No 
one could have had more sincere friends among the Mem- 
bers of Congress than he. To mention his name to a 
Member is but to bring forth the most sincere expression 
of esteem and friendship. He lived a long and useful life 
in the service of his counti-y, respected, honored, and loved 
by his constituents and associates. 

At this point Mr. Coady took the chair. 



[33] 



Address of Mr. Linthicum, of Maryland 

Mr. Speaker : " Hon. Joshua Frederick Cockey Talbott," 
as historians will know him; "Uncle Fred.," as his friends 
knew him; "Marse Fred.," as he was affectionately called 
by his colored admirers; and "Just for Congress Talbott," 
as his political friends were wont jokingly to speak of him, 
has passed to the great beyond. 

Born on the 29th of July, 1843, educated in the public 
schools of his native State, he was truly a product of 
Maryland in every sense. He reflected it in his daily life, 
in his intercourse with the people, and in his work in Con- 
gress. Ever alert to the welfare of the countiy, he was 
particularly animated and interested when the interests of 
Maryland were concerned. Though a great admirer of 
the people of all sections of our country, having a broad 
and comprehensive vision, a man who stood steadfastly 
for the Union, and a friend of the man in blue, yet he felt 
that the interests of Maryland iind her people were largely 
wrapped up with the Southland; that her love and friend- 
ship were a part of its very fabric and foundation; that 
the beauty and glory of its histoiy and the mandates of 
its traditions should be the admiration of all. The well- 
groomed or the tattered form of the man in gray — the 
man of the lost cause — needed but to approach Mr. Tal- 
bott when he became the personification of kindness and 
hospitality itself. Not alone did he talk for the South, 
but he fought for her; he was willing to lay down his 
life for the cause. 

In 1864, at the age of 21, he joined the Second Mary- 
land (Confederate) Cavalry and served to the close of 
the war. He was so genial, lovable, humorous, and gener- 
ous that he made friends in every walk of life and in 
every line of endeavor he traversed. In the army he was 



[34] 



Address of Mr. Linthicum, of Maryland 

the life of his company and the pal of the boys; as John 
"Williams — his barber in the Capitol barber shop — who 
was a body guard in the Confederate Army, tells us, when 
he saw him at Petersburg, Va., " He was here and there 
and everywhere making fun for the boys, and singing 
Maryland, My Maryland." He was a boy among the boys 
until his very death, and a tower of strength and action 
among the men who make business and mold history. 

If I should be asked what contributed most to Mr. 
Talbott's success in business and public life I should say 
it was his high regard for his word. A promise once made 
by him was worth more than a bond with a hundred 
golden seals. He made few congressional speeches, but 
his word to support a measure carried with it not alone 
his vote but his active influence as well. He was a plain 
man, devoid of hypocrisy and deceit; he did not pretend to 
be what he was not, nor to favor a measure or proposi- 
tion when he was opposed to it. He never tried to balance 
himself on the stilts of neutrality, but rather to adopt that 
scriptural injunction, " He who is not with me is against 
me." When he took a position he remained put, and all 
the king's horses and all the king's men could not move 
him from it. 

I shall always consider it a precious heritage that I was 
his colleague in Congi'css for more than seven years. I 
was with him when the glory of the Democratic victoiy 
and control of the House shone upon his countenance as 
we organized for the extra session in 1911, when Mr. Tal- 
BOTT, strong and vigorous, swore in Hon. Champ Clark as 
Speaker, as he did at each succeeding Congress, being 
dean of the Democrats. I was with him when he returned 
from his greatest sadness, the funeral of his wife, Laura 
Cockey Talbott. She was the playmate of his boyhood, 
his sweetheart of youth, and his dearest companion and 
wife for more than 44 years — the pride and glory of his 
young ambition, the sweet ornament of his mature fame, 

[35] 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 

and the best love of bis ripened age. From tbis time on 
one coiild see that, though Mr. Talbott was trj'ing to be his 
former self, there was a gnawing sadness, a lonesome- 
ness beyond repair. 

I was with him when the war in Europe broke out, in 
August, 1914. I can see his grave face and apprehension, 
but never did he have the least fear that Germany could 
cope with the American Navy. If he had been a fetish 
worshiper the American Na\^ would have been his god. 

I was with him when America declared war, in April, 
1917, and I beheld in him the old war horse of former 
days. I can well imagine what he was thinking as he 
looked back through the corridor of time, some 50 years, 
to Civil War days. " Oh," thought he, " how I would like 
to have the strength and vigor of those days when my 
horse and I swam the Potomac and I fought with Harry 
Gilmour's men. To-day I should have a chance to fight a 
real enemy and not my countrymen." 

I was with him during the succeeding months of his 
life while Congress voted billions of dollars and provided 
the mobilization of millions of men, while he, as a mem- . 
ber of the Naval Affairs Committee, labored day after day 
with energy and zeal, though his form bent lower each day 
under the strain and his eyes began to lose their luster of 
former years. 

The great naval bill appropriating more than a billion 
and a half dollars had been passed by both Houses; it was 
in conference. Mr. Talbott, worked down to weakness 
itself, often tottering to the Capitol on the arm of a page 
or sometimes on that of a colleague, refused to leave for a 
I'est until the bill was finally passed. He then took a vaca- 
tion; but the damage had been wrought. "Greater love 
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for 
his friend." 

The last time I saw him he was surrounded by his 
friends at a gathering in his district where he was the 



[36] 



Address of Mr. Linthicum, of Maryland 

central figure of 5,000 of his people. 1 had spoken in his 
stead, and was to leave the following day for the battle 
fields of Europe. I took his hand; he clasped mine in both 
of his, saying, " See all you can, but don't risk unneces- 
sarily, and come back safe; we will all be glad to welcome 
you home." Thus I left him in the mellow sunset of a 
well-spent life. Though it was not accorded me to see 
him again, I shall profit by the years I spent with him as 
his colleague, his friend, and his great admirer. 

He was a friend of truth, of soul sincere; 

In action faitliful, and in lienor clear; 

Who broke no promises, served no private ends, 

Sought no title, and forsook no friends. 

On the 8th day of October, just two days before I 
reached America again, he was laid to rest in his native 
county, surrounded by hundreds of his friends, commit- 
tees of the Senate and House of Representatives, admirals 
of the Navy, and amid the firing of a salute by sailors of 
the Nav5% and the sounding of taps. Did he know he 
would soon leave us? I believe he did. One afternoon 
he came to my office and saw my wife, who was his 
staunch friend. As he handed her his autographed pic- 
ture he said : " Here is something I want you to have." 
This hangs conspicuously in our home to-day. 

He had reached that time of life when the souls of the 
great and small alike beat at the bars of the cage of life 
in an effort to catch a glimpse of the great beyond, to hear 
a whisper of those who have gone, to feel the faintest 
spiritual " touch of a vanished hand," the faint " sound of 
a voice that is still." 

Mr. Talbott, a great success as a lawyer, early took up a 
political career and was a well-known figure at State and 
national conventions for many years. He was first elected 
to the Forty-sixtli Congress, and, with few interruptions, 
remained in this body until the time of his death. His 



[37] 



Memorial Addresses: Representati\-e Talbott 

great work was upon the Naval Affairs Committee. He 
saw the vision long before most men beheld it, and stood 
always for a big Navy. He believed America should be in 
position to protect herself, and refused to rely upon the 
protection of another. He preached " big Navy " in sea- 
son and out, and on several occasions prevented the House 
by his vote and silent work from cutting down its naval 
program. I am glad that it was granted him to see the 
great wisdom of his decision, to realize the appreciation 
of the people for his work. It can be adequately esti- 
mated just how much his sei-vices meant to the Navy and 
thereby the safety of the American home and the suc- 
cess of the war. It is a delicate and touching tribute that 
a destroyer will bear the name Talbott. 

A man who can continue as leader for the many years 
Mr. Talbott did and be returned to Congress during 40 
years has a testimonial which needs no elaboration. Kip- 
ling has expressed the thought most admirably: 

Old Nlnevah town has nothing to give 
For the place where a man's own folks live; 
He might have been that, or he may be this. 
But they love him or hate him for what he is. 

Maryland is proud to have contributed many great men 
to the American Government and is proud to have added 
another to the list of her distinguished men. This man 
of practical ideas, dreamer of great dreams, a man to 
whom principle was the correct thing in life, a fighter 
who loved a fight and believed in the justness of his cause, 
a devoted husband, a loyal friend, and a patriot who was 
an American through and through. 

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to extend in the 
Record by printing the funeral sermon on Mr. Talbott de- 
livered by Rev. Dr. Arthur B. Kinsolving, St. Paul's Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church, Baltimore. 



[38] 



Address of Mr. Linthicum, of Maryland 

The Speaker pro tempore. Is there objection to the re- 
quest of the gentleman from Maryland? [After a pause.] 
The Chair hears none. 

[At this point Mr. Butler resumed the chair.] 
Mr. Linthicum. Mr. Speaker, under the leave granted to 
me to extend my remarks I include the following sermon 
by Rev. Arthur B. Kinsolving, D. D., on the occasion of 
the funeral of the Hon. J. Frederick C. Talbott: 

We have assembled in this home on this beautiful autumn day to 
lay to rest with the church's old words of faith and hope one of 
the best-loved public men that Maryland has had for many years. 
This vast concourse of people, comprising as it does a distin- 
guished deputation from the Congress of the Nation, of the citizen- 
ship of Baltimore, and the community around, bears witness of 
itself to the affectionate esteem in which our departed friend was 
held. I can not forbear adding to the ritual of the church some 
words of appreciation of our friend. I do this with some hesita- 
tion, because I speak in the presence of many who were far more 
intimately associated with him than I. Yet I feel confident that 
what I shall say of the sterling traits of his character and service 
will find an echo in your own hearts and minds. 

Mr. Talbott dies at the close of a very remarkable career and 
at a time when his services to the Nation compel the tribute of 
our gratitude. 

As a young man he caught the spirit of chivalry pulsing in the 
souls of so many youths in this State and cast in his lot with the 
Southern Confederacy, making an honorable record as a member 
of Gilmour's cavalry. To the end of his life he looked back upon 
this service with unfeigned satisfaction, and at all reunions of his 
comrades was a central figure. 

He held his friendships throughout life by his strong and un- 
changing loyalty. Fred. Talbott did not forget. In the rough and 
tumble of a long political career he had many strenuous and hard 
fights. After the battle was over there was no bitterness in his 
soul; he accepted his few defeats with equanimity, which only a 
strong man possesses, and soon retrieved himself in large measure 
by this very spirit. As life wore on the acerbities of earlier 
political strife abated, and it is quite remarkable how his circle of 
friends widened with the years and how many former opponents 
came to appreciate the man at his true worth. 

[39] 



Memorial Addresses : Representatr-e Talbott 

Mr. Talbott was a true servant of the people in this State. He 
was unsparing of himself in this service and absolutely unwearied 
in his attention to every detail of his duties as a Congressman. 
Indeed, he came to his death perhaps a little before his time be- 
cause he left his bed a few days ago to go to Washington to keep 
an appointment in the interest of a young man whom he had 
promised to help. Several years ago, while traveling in New 
England with a Congressman from Texas, I believe, his companion 
said to him, " I should think it would be very awkward, Talbott, 
for you to live while in Congress right in the midst of the people 
you represent and to be forever accessible to their requests for 
patronage and help." Talbott turned instantly and said, " On the 
contrary, one of the joys of my life has been to know that every 
morning I would find on my desk some opportunity to serve my 
people, and perhaps during the day receive several of them at my 
office. This I conceive to be one of the greatest joys of a man's 
life — to live among the people whom he serves and to be in touch 
with their needs." 

His most conspicuous national service was the work he was 
permitted to do as ranking member of the Naval Affairs Commit- 
tee. From the beginning he stood stanchly against those who 
clamored for a little Navy and in favor of the most liberal naval 
program which this country could afford. His services here are 
valuable beyond all estimation. The justification of his foresight 
has already been written in these pages of recent history when our 
American Navy has rendered such conspicuous service in this war 
for civilization and freedom. It is most fitting that one of the 
vessels now building should bear the name of the man who has 
labored so valiantly for our greater naval program. 

And this reminds me to speak of what is, perhaps, the crowning 
honor and distinction of his life as a public servant, for he has 
served in Congress for a longer period than almost any other 
Member. Though he has had unusual opportunities in his con- 
spicuous position to further his own interests, Mr. Talbott, I am 
assured by those who know best, dies a poor man. In this respect 
he is an example to all men. His ideal was not gain but service. 
He had caught the vision of the nobility, the blessedness of service 
to his fellow men, and to that vision he was true until his strength 
was gone. 

As to his attitude in religious matters, Mr. T.\lbott seems not to 
have identified himself with any Christian church. We wish he 
had. It had been better so; but he was the friend and helper of 

[40] 



Address of Mr. Linthicum, of Maryland 

all churches. No acrid skepticism blighted this man's soul. He 
was a believer in our blessed Lord and Savior, and he often ap- 
peared among the worshipers, and his leanings were in the right 
direction. Toward the end, as he realized that his days were 
numbered, this spirit of reverence and trust in God seems to have 
deepened. We leave him to the mercy and care of the God and 
Father and Savior of us all. 

Mr. CoADY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
my colleagues, Mr. Mudd and Mr. Price, both of whom are 
unavoidablj' absent to-day, and the gentleman fi'om Ala- 
bama, Mr. Heflin, be permitted to extend and revise their 
remarks in the Record; also all other Members of the 
House who may care to do so. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Without objection, it will be 
so ordered. 

There was no objection. 



[41] 



Address of Mr. Heflin, of Alabama 

Mr. Speaker : One of the ablest and best-loved Members 
of this House has answered his last roll call. He has gone 
to join his friends and loved ones who have entered upon 
the life everlasting. 

He was loved and honored by the people of Maryland 
and loved and honored by the membership of this House. 
" Uncle Fred." Talbott, as we all affectionately called 
him, was a very remarkable character. His big brain and 
big heart and genial disposition made him a verj^ attrac- 
tive man — a leader of men. He was a man of deep con- 
victions and of fine judgment. He possessed a wonder- 
fully pleasing personality. He was an able, faithful, and 
useful Member of this body — a splendid legislator, ren- 
dering valuable service to his people and to his day and 
generation. 

He has fallen into that deep and peaceful sleep that 
awaits us all, and I know that all is well with his big, 
brave soul. 



[42] 



Address of Mr. Mudd, of Maryland 

Mr. Speaker: My colleague, the late J. Fred. C. Talbott, 
was one of those commanding personalities in public and 
political life who leaves his impress upon the hearts and 
minds of his contemporaries as well as his achievements 
upon the record. 

" Fred." Talbott, as he was called familiarly by those 
who knew him, or " Uncle Fred.," as he was affectionately 
styled by his intimate friends, was unquestionably one of 
the most remarkable characters in the politics of the State 
of Maryland in its entire history. He was remarkable in 
that his tenure or leasehold upon public favor, and upon 
his party, extended unbrokenly throughout a period of a 
half century or more. In that time there were more or 
less long intervals when it might be said he dominated his 
party in its State councils, and there is no question but 
that for many years he was in absolute control of the 
second congressional district, which so many times hon- 
ored him with an election to Congress. 

Men came and went upon the political stage in that dis- 
trict, but " Fred." Talbott continued on in undiminished 
power until the Master Workman called him to a new 
field of activity. I have often philosophized upon the 
unique career in politics of our late friend and have con- 
cluded that the secret of his success lay in his ability to 
make new friends. He is credited with having dictated 
the selection of men for office in Baltimore County, the 
largest and wealthiest county in Maryland, throughout his 
political career. This is true to a great extent. There 
were brief periods when his influence appeared to have 
waned, but it was impossible to keep him out of power or 
out of office very long. Whether defeated in his own 
party for a nomination, or whether defeated at the polls 
[43] 



Memorial Addresses : Representative Talbott 

by candidates of the opposing party, he took sucli defeat 
with rare good humor and grace and would immediately 
start in for another fight, never discouraged, but seem- 
ingly all the more determined to regain the prestige lost 
temporarily. 

In selecting men for appointive or elective offices in 
Baltimore County Mr. Talbott had the happy faculty of 
picking his candidates with rare good judgment, both as 
to their ability to perform good public service and their 
value as a political asset to himself and his party. When 
an officeholder indicated signs of political weakness in his 
particular locality none were quicker to sense the condi- 
tions than was Mr. Talbott, who would immediately select 
from that locality for political preferment another man 
whose star was in the ascendanc^^ " Fred." T.\lbott kept 
his hold upon and practically dominated the politics of 
Baltimore County for many years. His political enemies, 
both in and out of his party, dubbed him " boss " as a 
term of approbrium. But " Fred." Talbott had so many 
friends for whom he had done favors that the term 
' boss " to them became a term of affection and in a 
political sense lost its intended application. He was a 
boss, if to be a boss is to devote j^ears of service to the 
selection of candidates for office who he thought would 
render good service to the State and county, himself re- 
ceiving the benefit incidentally of the political strength 
that such appointments brought to him. If his course 
resulted, as probably it did, in his own aggrandizement, 
surely the responsibilities it entailed justified all the 
honors accruing to him thereby. 

Mr. Talbott, of course, could not escape being a target 
of campaign accusations and charges of almost every 
nature, none of which were ever proved or left the sem- 
blance of a stain upon his personal character; for per- 
sonally he was regarded with great esteem in the county 



[44] 



Address of Mr. Mudd, of Maryland 



over whose political destiny he presided for so many 
years and in the congressional district and State where 
he was such a prominent figure. This was amply at- 
tested in life and reflected when word came that he had 
"crossed over the river." I believe there are thousands 
of people to-day in what came to be known as " Fred. 
Talbott's district " who could testify that they or some 
members of their family were the beneficiaries of his 
kindness in one way or another. The humblest man iii 
the district could approach him and receive kindly treat- 
ment ajs well as those most influential. 

It is jjlainly to be seen, therefore, that he was a favorite 
among the so-called common people, who were the first 
to rally to his support when he needed it and trustfully to 
repose their confidence in him to do his bidding. His 
judgment of human nature seldom erred. 

I had the pleasure of serving with "Fred." Talbott on 
the Naval Affairs Committee of the House. His attitude 
toward me was kindly, affectionate, and helpful. He 
himself had been a member of that committee even before 
I was born. I knew him as a Member of Congress when 
I used to come as a boy to the House with my father, who 
was one of his contemporaries. Mr. TALBorx saw the 
United States Navy grow from nothingness practically to 
the splendid Navy we have to-day. And in the work of 
building up the Navy he took a prominent part. Indeed, 
some called him " the father of the Navy," and it is a 
fact that he did share with Secretary Whitney and others 
in the work of " laying the keel " of the new Navy. I shall 
miss his wise counsel and his friendly interest in me. 

ADJOURNMENT 

Then, in accordance with the resolution jircviously 
adopted, the House (at 5 o'clock and 20 minutes p. m.) 
adjourned until Monday, February 17, 1919, at 11 o'clock 
a. m. 

[45] 



Proceedings in the Senate 

Monday, October 7, 1918. 

A message from the House of Representatives, bj' G. F. 
Turner, one of its clerks, communicated to the Senate the 
intelligence of the death of Hon. J. Fred. C. Talbott, late 
a Representative from the State of Maryland, and trans- 
mitted resolutions of the House thereon. 

Mr. Smith of Maryland. Mr. President, I ask that the 
resolutions just received from the House of Representa- 
tives be laid before the Senate. 

The Presiding Officer. The resolutions will be read. 

The Secretary read the resolutions, as follows : 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. J. Fred. C. Talbott, a Representative of the 
State of Maryland. 

Resolved, That a committee of 16 Members of the House, with 
such Members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to 
attend the funeral. 

Resolved, That the Sergeant at Arms of the House be authorized 
and directed to take such steps as may be necessary for carrying 
out the provisions of these resolutions, and that the necessary 
expenses in connection therewith be paid out of the contingent 
fund of the House. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

Mr. Smith of Maryland. Mr. President, as a mark of re- 
spect to the distinguished Representative I send the fol- 
lowing resolutions to the desk and ask for their adoption. 

The resolutions (S. Res. 312) were read, considered by 
unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as fol- 
lows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow the 
announcement of the death of Hon. J. Fred. C. Talbott, late a 
Representative from the State of Maryland. 

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LIBRfiRY OF CONGRESS 



014 310 088 1 # 



Memorial Addresses: Representative Talbott 

Resolved, That a committee of 12 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President, to join the committee appointed on the part of 
the House of Representatives, to attend the funeral of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives. 

The Vice President, under the second resolution, ap- 
pointed as the committee on the part of the Senate Mr. 
Martin of Virginia, Mr. Bankhead, Mr. Williams, Mr. 
Underwood, Mr. Saulsburj', Mr. Smith of Maryland, Mr. 
Lodge, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Penrose, Mr. Dillingham, Mr. 
Gerry, and Mr. France. 

Mr. Smith of Maryland. Mr. President, at a later date I 
shall ask the Senate to set aside a day for further suitable 
testimonial in memory of the distinguished Member of the 
House of Representatives, whom I knew well and inti- 
mately for very many years and for whom I had the 
highest regard and esteem. I move as a further mark 
of respect that the Senate do now adjourn. 

The motion was unanimously agreed to; and (at 2 
o'clock and 8 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
Thursday, October 10, 1918, at 12 o'clock meridian. 



[48] 



